I'm in Boston for a few days for the SETAC conference. I was free today so I left the hotel around 11 with plans to go to the New England Aquarium. But, being a cheapskate, first I walked down to the convention center to get my registration materials because I knew there was supposed to be a free 1 week "T" (subway) pass in there. I was going to take the subway to the aquarium and why would I pay a whole $2-3 to ride the subway when I could ride for free after I picked up my pass, right? The girl at the front desk of the hotel told me it was 4 blocks to the convention center. Well, apparently, they count blocks differently in Boston, because it was, by my count, 8 loooong blocks. So, by the time I got there, I was badly in need of a diet Coke and I was ready for lunch, since all I had for breakfast was a Payday bar I bought at the airport the night before.
So, I decided to eat next door at the Prudential Center ("70+ shops and restaurants"). Then I saw they had a Cheesecake Factory there, so I said, "Oooo, I'll eat at the Cheesecake Factory." But I decided that if I was going to go to a regular sit-down restaurant, I needed a book to read while waiting and eating, because I hate just sitting there by myself staring at the scenery. So, I went into Barnes & Noble and bought the second book in John Ringo's new-ish "Live Free or Die" series. But, when I got to the Cheesecake Factory, it was PACKED, with a bunch of people holding pagers milling around outside. The entrance to the T station was right across the hall, so I just said, "To heck with it, I'll go back to the hotel, dump my registration stuff off, eat lunch, and *then* go to the aquarium."
I ended up eating lunch at an Irish pub in the same building as my hotel. Beer-battered fish and chips. Harp-battered fish and chips, for those of you who know your beers. And diet Pepsi, because Boston appears to be a Pepsi town. The meal was delicious. And huge. And I was starved so I made a pig of myself. Then I took my SETAC bag back to the room, thinking I would leave it and my coat in the room and head off to the aquarium.
When I got back to my room, I was stuffed from lunch, plus I had a headache, so I decided to lay down for a few minutes. Well, by the time I got up it was almost 3 pm and I decided that there was no point in trying to go to the aquarium, which closes at 6 pm. Instead, I walked down to the Public Garden, which is about a block from my hotel. The Public Garden is where they have the famous Swan Boats in the summer. I had a stroll around the park, admired the extremely large, fat, and friendly squirrels, and made my way back to my hotel.
I guess I'll have to save the aquarium for another trip.
On another subject, I discovered the big drawback to a Kindle yesterday. On an airplane, a Kindle is considered to be the same as a computer, so they make you turn it off and put it away for take-off and landing. Boo, hiss. Fortunately, I also had a paperback with me, so I was not forced to shop the Sky Mall catalog or talk to my neighbor. :-)
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